Passport delays are showing no signs of improving with people in Western Australia experiencing waits of more than four months.
The situation has frustrated Alysha Singh, who has booked to travel to India in December.
She is one of thousands of travellers with their plans in limbo.
Singh lodged an application for her son’s passport in May but she has not yet received it.
“Six weeks I was happy to wait but any longer than that, it’s just becoming a joke,” she said.
Three months later the 27-year-old called for an update and was told the passport was still being processed.
“They keep telling me that it’s in the final processes, but that’s been the last four or five weeks now,” she said.
Meanwhile Bilal Ahmed has cancelled his travel plans after a four month wait for a passport.
“I have no idea if it’s even going to come now or how long it’s going to take because I can’t get a word from them,” he said.
Hundreds of complaints have been lodged to the Commonwealth Ombudsman over the past 12 months.
The Ombudsman received 649 complaints about passport delays from July last year to June 2022.
The department received 81 complaints in July and has received 42 complaints so far for August.
Since borders re-opened for international travel in November last year, the Australian Passport Office has been inundated with requests.
The office has reportedly been receiving about 15,000 passport applications a day.
Travellers with concerns are advised to call the Australian Passport Office for a status check.
